Rabbi Diane Tiferet Lakein holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies and International Politics from Princeton University and an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Born in San Francisco, she spent time in Stockholm, Sweden as a child and in Beijing, China as an undergraduate.

She moved to Germany in the mid-1990s to conduct ethnographic research on anti-racist responses to rising xenophobia – and discovered her passion for Jewish spirituality and education.

Rabbi Diane received a Masters of Jewish Education from Hebrew College in 2015 and ordination from ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal, in 2017. She most recently served as Jewish Educator in Cologne, Germany (2011-2014), Rabbi for Chawurah Gescher in Freiburg, Germany (2013-2016 as Rabbinic Intern, 2017-2020 as Rabbi) and Rabbi of Migwan in Basel, Switzerland (2017-2019). 

Rabbi Diane serves as a freelance Rabbi, Jewish Educator and Spiritual Director in Germany and the United States. She is currently the rabbi of Congregation Nevei Kodesh in Boulder, CO.

Rabbi Diane is a member of the General Rabbinical Council of Germany – Allgemeine Rabbinerkonferenz (ARK), The Rocky Mountain Rabbis and Cantors (RMRC), and serves as President of Haver, the Rabbinic Council of Boulder, Colorado. She is also a member in good standing of OHALAH, the Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal.